You didn’t choose writing. Writing chose you.
Drysdale Editorial is Chelsey Drysdale.
Editor. Writer. Collaborator.
I am an enthusiastic editor specializing in developmental editing, line editing, copyediting, and proofreading.
I have more than two decades of experience editing and writing. My goal is to provide honest, compassionate, thorough feedback, whether your project is autobiographical, fictional, or professional. As a careful editor, I promise to listen intently, provide a safe emotional space, meet all deadlines, encourage revision, and contribute to elevating your work to its fullest potential while helping you find and retain your voice.
Think of our time together as a fruitful collaboration. Write what you’re most afraid to write. Write what drives you. Embrace the process, and never underestimate the power of secondary readers and potential mentors. I’ve been fortunate to have more than one guide. Writers benefit from practiced facilitators who meet them where they are in their lifelong trek as a meaning maker. I welcome the opportunity to be one of yours.
Developmental Editing
What is your story about? What is it really about? What do the characters want? What do they really want? Are they relatable, with discernible strengths and flaws? Does a through line exist holding the story together? Are the connections between past and present organic? Is the plot a consequential series of events? In what places can the story be trimmed? Where does the story need to slow down and be expanded? What are the characters’ stakes? Are the chapters/essays/scenes cohesive with an understandable framework? Can the structure be reimagined for clarity? Are the scenes working optimally in terms of conflict, dialogue, point of view, setting, the five senses, character development, and length? Do the scenes and characters earn their place? Does the manuscript have a narrative arc? Is the ending both surprising and inevitable?
These are some of the questions to ask about your manuscript. Doing so together, we can shape it into what you envision.
Line Editing
Do you have an essay, short story, article, blog entry, website copy, novel, full-length memoir, or other nonfiction manuscript that needs work at the sentence level? Have you nailed the big picture of your project, and now you need help with style, word choice, pacing, and the flow of language? Can your material be tightened and revised for clarity? Is there a consistent point of view? Does the tone fit the content? Are the sentences varied? Have you avoided clichés? Have you addressed passive voice? Is there unnecessary repetition or overused words? Is your singular voice evident throughout? What can we cut to make the piece pop?
Together we can make your sentences stand out.
Copyediting and Proofreading
Are you planning to self-publish your work? Did you write something outstanding, but you need a nitpicky grammarian to scour the material you’ve already read dozens of times? Do you need to adhere to a particular style guide? Do you want to fix spelling, punctuation, grammar, and any typos you may have missed?
If you’re an excellent writer, but mechanics aren’t your strong suit and you don’t know the particulars of The Chicago Manual of Style, for instance, you are not alone. Even the most talented writer needs a copyeditor—followed by a proofreader to check the copyeditor’s work! Copyeditors and proofreaders are not only naturally detail-oriented and consistent, but they’ve been trained in a particular set of skills: when to spell out numbers; when to hyphenate words; when to use an em dash or an en dash; where to place those dang commas; when to break a style guide’s rules to suit your voice on the page.
A thorough, communicative copyeditor may fact-check names and dates, do the work of a line editor—while being sensitive to your needs—or even guide you through the formatting process.
When we finish this step, your project will be professional, clean, and as close to error-free as possible.
Contact
I’m available for your questions. I look forward to hearing from you!
Email
chelsey@drysdaleeditorial.com
